Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Monday, March 28, 2011

A decadent and well loved dessert made with a shortbread pecan crust and layers of cream cheese, pudding and whipped cream.

Chocolate Sin

This dessert recipe goes far, far back in my memory, though I was a bit older before I first heard it called "Better Than Sex." I distinctly remember a girlfriend calling it that and with a puzzled look on my face being told, "darlin', this is sooooo good that it is better than sex, that's why," and that was that. It sure has made multiple appearances in my life, that's for sure.

Now, I do also realize that there a loads of equally sinful and delicious desserts of no resemblance to this one, that are also called "Better Than Sex," depending on where you're from really. Frankly even though they are all different, that's perfectly fine with me. In fact, you can read about several different varieties of "Better Than Sex" desserts right in our discussion on the Facebook page recently. No matter the dessert, I figure if it earned a name like that, it's gotta be drool worthy, no matter the ingredients.

This particular one, made with a shortbread crust and layered with a cream cheese, powdered sugar and whipped cream layer, followed by a chocolate pudding layer, and topped with a final layer of whipped cream, is known itself by multiple names. Chocolate Sin, Sex in a Pan, Better Than Sex, Better Than Robert Redford, Almost a Sin, Girdle Buster, Chocolate Dessert, Chocolate Pudding Dessert, Chocolate Delight, Chocolate Dream and even Mississippi Mud are a few names I've heard.

If you've never made this before I do hope you try it. It really is delicious and super easy to make. First you'll make a basic shortbread type of crust by combining butter with flour and nuts, and spreading that into a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish, and baking it. Do this far enough in advance so that you have plenty of time to cool the crust completely. The first layer is made of softened cream cheese and powdered sugar whipped together and then you'll add a cup of homemade whipped topping or Cool Whip to that. I could eat a whole bowl of just this stuff!

Spread that over the cooled crust - an offset spatula is handy for this kind of thing.

Whip together two small packages of chocolate pudding with 3 cups of milk until slightly thickened and spread that over the cream cheese layer.

Over the chocolate pudding layer, you'll add a layer of plain whipped topping.

Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight - 24 hours is even better. I wait to garnish just before serving by grating a little bit of chocolate over the top using a fine grater, and then sprinkling just a bit of chopped pecan on top. Lawdy y'all, this is sooooo good. Dig in!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, mix together the flour, pecans and butter until mixture resembles cookie dough. Spread into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch glass Pyrex baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely, about an hour.

Mix together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until well blended. Add 1 cup of the Cool Whip and mix together. Spread this layer over the cooled crust.

Mix together the two boxes of pudding with the 3 cups of milk until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Carefully spread over the cream cheese layer.

Spread the remaining cup of whipped topping on top. Cover and refrigerate - best if refrigerated 24 hours. Before serving, grate chocolate over the top and sprinkle with additional chopped nuts. Cut into squares.

Variations: May be made with a variety of crusts by substituting crushed cookies, graham crackers or vanilla wafers for the flour in the crust. Use about 1-1/2 cups of crushed cookies and because cookies already have some fat in them, start with a few tablespoons of melted butter, using only enough to bind the cookies together. May also use a variety of pudding flavors (vanilla, chocolate, butterscotch, lemon, etc.), or use any two different, but compatible flavors of pudding, either one layered on the other or blended together. Okay to substitute margarine, sugar free and lower fat products, if desired. May also add a layer of sliced fruit, for example, use banana pudding with sliced bananas or vanilla with sliced strawberries.

Oreo Delight: Combine 1-1/2 cups of Oreo cookie crumbs with 2 to 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted, until crumbs bind together. Press into the bottom of the pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool completely, then proceed with remaining recipe. Crush additional Oreos to garnish top.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

Exactly the way I make it. Only I call it chocolate delight. I first found the recipe in a church cookbook. After I made it the first time my teen-age son put 5-stars beside it. #1 requested dessert around here. I've had it with vanilla pudding but chocolate is definetly the best.

Mary, I make this too, only my recipe is called Four Layer Pudding Dessert....Your name is way more exciting! :)It's delicious, no matter what ya call it. My original recipe makes it with pistachio pudding, and it's good too.

How funny! I always called this Millionaire Pie, but my husband's family calls it Texas Pie. It's one of my favorite desserts that his grandma makes.

To me, Better Than Sex Cake is a German chocolate cake with holes punched in it while it's warm, then drizzled with caramel topping and a can of sweetened condensed milk and topped with Cool Whip and sprinkled with shaved chocolate.

My family has always known it as 4 layer delight, but I have heard it called "fat man's delight" (not funny!) But, if you like lemon, replace the chocolate with cooked lemon merangue pie filling, and it will knock your socks off!!

This is our recipe too!!! I love this dessert because we have gone gluten free and this is so easy to revise just use gluten free all purpose flour mix. One time I was out of flour before we went gluten free and used vanilla sandwich cookies crushed up. My nephew thought he had died and gone to heaven!

My mother has made this for as long as I can remember but she always called it "Four Layer Delight" and sometimes she would use Butter Pecan pudding instead of Chocolate. Love it! Love your recipes, too! Thanks!

I've heard this called Better Than Sex , but my mom calls it Chocolate Delight because "no food should be named after sex".. LOL she's old school. No matter what it's called, this dish is absolutely yummy. A chocolate lovers dream! We always have it around Thanksgiving & Christmas. Which is weird cuz I guess you can have it anytime! =)

Hey Melissa! I know what you mean - I'm pretty my mama would probably not call this sex anything! y'all probably have it around the holidays cuz it's so rich, but yeah, this time of year it's great with all the church suppers, potlucks & family gatherings going on. All I know is this - I LOVE it!!

We call it "Hobo Pie" and this is the one dessert my family will fight over. It is a "must-have" at all the big holidays and is so much in demand that we now make two - one to put out for the crowd, and one hidden away in the fridge for after everyone's gone!

Our family is like Lynda's...that's why we've always referred to it as "Green Stuff" :D My MIL religiously makes it with chocolate pudding, but my favorite (and my husbands, hee) is still to make it with pistachio pudding :)

I was first introduced to this desert in 1976 at a potluck at work, BUT it was made with butterscotch pudding - it is to die for. I have been served the chocolate variety, and it is very good, but my family always prefers the butterscotch.

I don't recall seeing the butterscotch back then around here - only the chocolate - but the butterscotch is of course incredible. I lean toward the chocolate myself since that is the first one for me, but then I'm a pretty big fan of all the layered desserts overall to honest so I love them all!

OMG!I have been looking for this recipe since I went to my dear friend Stephanie's Father's funeral! This was a Southern who's who of Church Ladies Lunchon Affair, that was put on in rememberance of a very heroic firefighter(Steven Young, who in his career had saved countless lives the community). As you can imagine the food was amazing and plentyfull. The was one dish in particular though that stood so highly above ALL others was this reciepe with Butterscotch Pudding! I thought I had died and gone to some Keebler Confections heaven! I closed my eyes when I ate it and apparently made several loud moaning and grunting sounds. So vocal was I that the sister of the Gal who had made this delight came over to me and said "You must be eating my sister's pie!" The laughs and the hooting and a hollering filled the room and my face with a red flush I don't think will ever be matched again! I ate almost half of the 13x9 dish of this "devil's delight"(that's what I have been refering to it as)! I couldn't help myself! It was toe curling good and I was too ashamed to ask for the reciepe after my "performance" so Praise Jesus I found it here! Thanks soo much y'all! P.S. I can't wait to try all these other variations with flavors! Love the site!

Oh you lil' darlin' you! Thanks for replying to my comment.(so sorry I posted 2 versions of the same story, my computer is possesed and it wiped out my first draft of my comment so I re-typed it not knowing the original had indeed been sent!) What a sweetheart you are and I have to say this site is just soo great. Living in an era where fast-food and computers reign it's nice to get back to the basics of sharing home cooked meals with friends and family. Having big family suppers growing up at my Grandmother's home are at the heart of some of my most treasured memories. Sadly most of my family has passed, in fact I only have one living relitive remaining(my sister Alyssa, 15 yrs. my junior)But I still love to cook and look forward to trying many of the recipe's on this site for friends and loved ones. Deepest Thanks, Ed.

Hello there you Southern Sweetie- Well I made my "Better than sex" 4 layer masterpiece in Butterscotch as I had it at the funeral I mentioned above(my cheeks are still rosie from shame of it all-but this dessert is too good for me to care! lol)and then I made a 2nd one the week after with Chocolate pudding just to see how that one was because I read how much that one made an impression on folks-you included! Both were heavenly but I have to tell you for me it's the Butterscotch all the way home to the lounge chair! There's a decadance along with a lightness to the cake when it's made with the Butterscotch pudding. The chocolate flavor just dosen't transend for me. And I am an chocoholic of the 10th degree so I'm rather puzzled as to why I like the Butterscotch more? It may have to do with the fact that I don't eat many if anything much in that flavor normally so It does have a uniqueness that makes it stand out for me and adds to it's all around special deliciousness! Either way I love it and thanks again for featuring the recipe on the site ;)...Ed

I have had this dish since i was a little girl ive only known it as sex in a dish i plan on making this for dessert for my girls as they grow up it is amazing with the rich flavor but its not so over powering. and i hate wipped cream but for some reason i love it in this recipe i think of this as an amazing ne time dessert i used to eat it ne time of the day

I have baked as a side business for years, but when it all comes down to it, I'd rather have this than anything - everyone knows when my birthday rolls around, it's chocolate delight (what we call it) or bust! :)

I have baked as a side business for years, but when it all comes down to it, I'd rather have this than anything - everyone knows when my birthday rolls around, it's chocolate delight (what we call it) or bust! :)

I have baked as a side business for years, but when it all comes down to it, I'd rather have this than anything - everyone knows when my birthday rolls around, it's chocolate delight (what we call it) or bust! :)

LOL, yeah, my son turned 30 last year & I said the same thing!! My best friend since high school who by the way, said she was NEVER going to get married and certainly NEVER going to have any children, ended up both married & when she found out she was pregnant, yep. Twins!! Proof positive that God absolutely has a sense of humor. They are her pride & joy.

Isn't this just such a sinful & wonderful dessert? I am not safe around it!!

This is one of our favorites ~ only we call it three layer surprise (which is odd since it's got four layers!) My husband's aunt, from North Dakota, calls it Better Then Robert Redford dessert, which cracks me up. Glad to find this online so I can add it my southern dessert pinterest board.

Mary i too as some of the comments have read and known this dessert to be called Four Layer Delight a little more clean to take to a church function when the recipe is asked for. But let me tell you what i tried. I made the chocolate pudding and i made vanilla pudding and put coconut in it and put that on top of the chocolate layer and then put the cool whip on top and sprinkled toasted coconut and shaved chocolate and i thought my husband was going to make himself sick. Awesomeness total awesomeness

I have made this for years and my family calls it chocolate goodie... I have also made it this with coconuts cream pie pudding and toped with toasted coconut and if u like coconut it is to die for! I love it both ways.

No, the pan size is correct, but it does make only a thin bottom layer - it's just meant to provide a base to hold the dessert together, though I'm sure you could make it thicker though if you prefer more of a cookie dough on the bottom!

So happy to have found this! Yesterday a friend of mine was talking about a banana pudding dessert she made for Thanksgiving . While having dessert her Grandma renamed the dessert to Better Than Sex Banana Pudding dessert and the whole family was cracking up. I laughed too and it reminded me that my Grandma used to make an incredible chocolate pudding dessert that she alternately called either Better Than Sex Dessert and/or Better Than Robert Redford Dessert. It was the best!! A quick goggle search today landed me here. This sounds pretty close to what my grandma made although I think she made hers with a graham cracker crust. I can't wait to make it! Gotta love Grandma's and their creatively named "Better Than Sex" desserts. Ha!!

There is some variation among different families on how it's made - two puddings mixed, two pudding layers of different flavor, etc. so lots of ways to change it up. It's all good though & I hope you enjoyed it!!

I'm sure you could vary this in many ways. The flour crust is somewhat like a shortbread cookie crust, but you could use all kinds of crusts with this method as well as varying the filling to your liking!

Dearest Madame Deep South Dish, I can see from the comments that many, many people have enjoyed this dessert but I think its greatest fan is my husband. He loves nothing in the world better than this dessert, sometimes I think even including myself! Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season, and thank you for your enormous (if unknowing) contribution to my happy marriage!

Thanks for taking the time to comment - I love hearing from readers and I read every single comment and try to respond to them right here on the site, so stop back by!

From time to time, anonymous restrictions and/or comment moderation may be activated due to comment spam. I also reserve the right to edit, delete or otherwise exercise total editorial discretion over any comments left on this blog.

Hey Y’all! Welcome to some good ole, down home southern cooking. Pull up a chair, grab some iced tea, and 'sit a bit' as we say down south. If this is your first time visiting Deep South Dish, you can sign up for FREE updates via EMAIL or RSS feed, or you can catch up with us on Facebook and Twitter too!

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients. ~Julia Child

The classic southern plate for supper is made up of meat and three, cornbread or rolls & a tall glass of sweet iced tea.

Oftentimes what makes a recipe southern, is as much a state of mind as it is a matter of geography - Southerners simply decide a particular food is southern, and that's that." ~Rick McDaniel, Food Historian

DISCLAIMER: This is a recipe site intended for entertainment. By using this site and these recipes you agree that you do so at your own risk, that you are completely responsible for any liability associated with the use of any recipes obtained from this site, and that you fully and completely release Mary Foreman and Deep South Dish LLC and all parties associated with either entity, from any liability whatsoever from your use of this site and these recipes.

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. CONTENT THEFT, EITHER PRINT OR ELECTRONIC, IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE. Recipes may be printed ONLY for personal use and may not be transmitted, distributed, reposted, or published elsewhere, in print or by any electronic means. Seek explicit permission before using any content on this site, including partial excerpts, all of which require attribution linking back to specific posts on this site. I have, and will continue to act, on all violations.